Wordworth's Preface to Lyrical Ballads

The Preface to Lyrical Ballads by William Wordsworth explains to the reader what, why and how he is writing the poems. He asks the reader in a sense not to judge his work with an already predisposed bias. He says that

                “Who should be please with them would read them with more than common pleasure: and , on the other hand, I was well aware, that by those who should dislike them, they would be read with more than common dislike.”

                He understands that not everyone is going to like his poems, some might like a few, some might like all of them. I felt that in this preface Wordsworth is trying to defend in a sense his poetry which in my option I feel that he does not need too. Or I could be reading the tone wrong and that the purpose of the preface is to make sure that the readers have a better understanding so that those who do enjoy his works will enjoy it more and those who do not might dislike it less.

                In his preface he made some really good points that popped out at me such as the idea that his poems are written to expand the nature of thought, to evoke deep feelings in the reader, he explains how poets are different from other professionals, how raw poetry can be and how all of that can transform someone.

                From all those different discussion within his preface what really resonated with me is how much knowledge poetry can really instill upon the reader. That is if the reader gives the poems the time of day. I agree with what he is saying and with a personal anecdote poetry has really forced me to open up my mind and think differently. Poetry is not at all black and white and there are limitless possibilities. Wordsworth describes what poets are very well here:

                “What then does the Poet? He considers man and the objects that surround him as acting and re-acting upon each other, so as to produce an infinite complexity of pain and pleasure; he considers man in his own nature and in his ordinary life as contemplating this with a certain quantity of immediate knowledge, with certain convictions, intuitions, and deductions, which from habit acquire the quality of intuitions; he considers him as looking upon this complex scene of ideas and sensations, and finding everywhere objects that immediately excite in him sympathies which, from the necessities of his nature, are accompanied by an overbalance of enjoyment.”

                Poets are knowledgeable of science, art, religion, emotion, nature, and anything else they allude to in their poetry. It strikes me with amazement every time there is an allusion, symbolism or an analogy that is made in poetry. First it makes me feel a little dumb especially when I do not know what they are hinting at and second this shows that poets are open and aware of their surroundings especially the romantics. Like Wordsworth said earlier everything is interconnected that we act and re-act with each other which creates pain and pleasure which is exactly what the romantics were about! But Wordsworth explains it in a metaphysical/ science way.  Poetry helps bring out what humans already has. Humanity’s inquisitive ways and the passion from within and this cause humans to be able to reach levels of enjoyment.  This is something that I agree with. 

                Wordsworth also talks about truth which usually go hand in hand with knowledge

                “The Man of science seeks truth as a remote and unknown benefactor; he cherishes and loves it in his solitude: the Poet, singing a song in which all human beings join with him, rejoices in the presence of truth as our visible friend and hourly companion.”

                Poets are different from other professionals, in this case a scientist, in that Poets are able to seek truth that will bring people to him. Poetry is something that can be enjoyed alone or with a group of people like poetry jams! Poetry is timeless and very similar to art which he also mentions in the Preface. Poetry and art are alike in that there are many different levels of interpretations, there is never a right interpretation and both forms of art are timeless, priceless and limitless. The two both hold truths that will bring people together like the Mona Lisa. Both are very powerful and evoke the imagination and like Wordsworth says both are “as immortal as the heart of man.” I guess these poets and artist back in the day had it a little bit easier because people were not distracted by technology but that’s another topic all together. 

to want or to have?

After class discussion I wanted to add this to the Keats post. 

To have something I feel keeps a person grounded and at peace. What I mean is that when one can obtain something tangible or intangible the person can finally "relax" and find the inner peace that they wouldnt be able to have if they could not have it. A person can  become more grounded when they have something because they can come to appreciate and enjoy what they have. the person could come in terms with certain truths. 

Wanting I feel motivates the person to grow and reach another level. Wanting holds onto the excitement and maybe could be more fun. Human nature wants what they cant have or wanting more then they have. 

Both actions proves that human nature is greedy. Wanting says humans want more then what they have and having says humans need to obtain something and make it theirs (mine, mine, mine). This in a sense makes the two go hand in hand like pain and suffering. 

However for the two there are different situations that one might outweight the other. that is why there is not black and white and lots of grey areas. But life is full of grey areas. What I mean is for example lets take that quesiton and ask someone from a third world country. Personally I think if you ask someone from a developing country which they would rather. I think they would tell you that they would like to have things because they have been wanting things all their life. For example people from these countries barely have enough to eat and they are constantly in a mindset of wanting more food wanting a roof, water, clothes and other primary things. Therefore personally I think these people would say that to be able to have all those things is so much more important to them then to want to have more or even wanting to obtain them because wanting to obtain is a greater pain. How can someone even know the idea of wanting more when they do not even have the foundations or basic ideas of what it is like to have!! 

Its also quiet different when you think about having versus wanting when it comes to something tangible like an object or intangible like emotions or feelings. This leads me to believe that the one that is better depends on the situation and also depends on the level of pain or joy that comes with it. Example, in the case with the third world country to have is a greater joy and to want is a greater pain. In a relationship to chase is a greater fun/joy then to settle which is a great pain. 

But in the end there is room to argue. 

The Odes of Keats

In Keats’ poem Bards of Passion and Mirth he talks about how happiness is a thing that is of the Heavens because of how he describes Heaven from lines 10 to 20. Yet happiness is not only limited to Heaven, happiness is also on earth because the Bards, the poets have made that possible. The poets whom have past have their souls in Heaven and on earth.

                “Ye have left you, soul on earth.

Have ye souls in heaven too,

Doubled-lived in regions new?”

The souls of the poets live on in the poetry that was published or found that was exposed for the world to read and to appreciate. The romantic poets like many of them believe were able to appreciate and reveal to the reader deep truths about happiness, life, God, nature, imagination, beauty and the supernatural. Poets in fact could be consider teachers which the poem also address,

                “Thus ye teach us, every day,

                Wisdom, though fled far away.”

Even when the poets have died, the literature that is left behind still teaches us and that is how their wisdom reaches the readers from far away.

Pain and beauty are linked with one another because they not the same, they aren’t completely opposites either.  To appreciate the beauty and to really see it sometime you have to suffer. It is true that sometimes if we do not suffer and fight for something it would not have the same worth, than if we did. In Keat’s Ode on Melancholy it is about someone who is suffering and in pain, but no pain is worth suicide,

                “Nor suffer thy pale forehead to be kist

                By nightshade, ruby grade of Prosperine;”

this is because there are other joys of life that is much more powerful and is more meaningful. Therefore if the person chose to die he/she would miss out on the many wondrous experiences of life.  Keat expresses this

                “And Joy, whose hand is ever at his lips

Bidding adieu; and aching Pleasure nigh,”

Joy is right there and if the person chose to dead the suffering and not see it through, Joy will not feel guilty letting the person go. The reason why pain and beauty are link is because humanity needs to have balance. A rose is consider beautiful yet when it pricks you it hurts as well. Eating something delicious in express will also become painful and lead to health disease like high blood pressure and cholesterol. Everything good or bad has its part. In Chinese we called that Feng.

The transformation out of pain into beauty is in every one of his odes. The person in the poem seems to start in a suffering state but is able to come out of it and see the essence of beauty. The state of happiness, and beauty is revealed to the person and ultimately there is a battle which happens within the person. From the odes it seems that the person is able to come to recognize and appreciate the pain he/she has suffer and the beauty and happiness that awaits them. The reader also realizes the important link that exists between the two opposing themes.

Keats and all the romantic poets are right to say that life is full of pain. That is a universal truth and something that we cannot escape unless we chose not to exist. But who can guarantee that there will be an end to suffering after one stop existing.  Also back to the idea of balance if there is good there is evil, so if there is happiness there is pain. I think that also ties into the freedom to choice.  By the decisions we make we end up experiencing a certain type of feeling. However everything ends that’s the honest truth. So if there is pain to be suffered then there is happiness to be enjoyed. It is possible to let go of pain yet it is so hard not to dwell on happiness. Personally pain can easily disappear with the help of distractions, mediation, prayer and in this case for the romantics through beauty of nature. When doing these things certain things are revealed to the person such as the importance of not wasting time and energy on negative vibes.

When I used to run track in high school I would suffer everyday at practice and I always told myself to think of a happy place. Using my imagination I pretended I was laying out on the beaches of Hawaii getting some sun. So though imagination I was able to escape temporarily from the pain and suffering that I was experiencing while I was at practice.

Longing is inevitable and sets humans apart from other animals. All of the Odes also express a state of longing. In Ode to autumn there is a longing for the season to stay by the way Keats describes the season

                “Season of mist and mellow fruitfulness,

                Close bosom-friend of the maturing sun;”

That even though it is a sign of winter and its comings it is still beautiful and has its own melodious song. In Ode to Nightingale the speaker wants to be like the bird who experience the ability to be immortal. But it’s also probably easier to be a bird. Finally in the Ode to a Grecian Urn there is the desire for youth

“ When old age shall this generation waste,

Thou shalt remain, in midst of other woe”

However becoming old is as inevitable as death. From all these Odes and the other works of the romantics they have revealed to me that life is short and pain and suffering is inevitable so the best solution is to live life in happiness with good people and the appreciation of nature and little things.  

The Rime of the Ancient Mariner-Coleridge

notes: the format is a little off because when I copy and pasted the poem in the word document it messed around with the formatting that is why sometimes that should be indented are not. 

The Rime of the Ancient Mariner is a story about a sailor and what happened to him at sea. Due to the events on his journey he is on a mission to tell his tale everywhere. There is a lot of symbolism in the poem which can be seen in the Albatross and the spirits throughout the poem. There are quite a few allusions to the Bible. From reading the poem I took the meaning of the Albatross and the spirits to be Biblically related. In the Bible there might have also been a story about a wedding as well.

From Khuba-Klan, Coleridge also alludes to the Bible, so it is no surprise in this poem. The Albatross from the poem is a sign of good,

“At length did cross an Albatross,
Thorough the fog it came;
As if it had been a Christian soul,	65
We hail'd it in God's name.
It ate the food it ne'er had eat,
And round and round it flew.
The ice did split with a thunder-fit;
The helmsman steer'd us through!”, which could mean that God sent the sailors a sign and that he was looking out for the sailors and steered them clear of the storm. However, the Mariner decides to shoot the bird. Now I do not personally understand why the Mariner decided to do that. But God has given us free choice and it was the Mariner’s choice to do what he wanted. Also Humans don’t make much sense sometimes and I believe the Mariner shot the bird maybe because he believed the bird had serves its purpose or just simply the fact that the Mariner is a known sinner. After the Mariner shot the Albatross he is basically condemned by the other sailors. This is because of two things one that the bird is an Angel and the other, after the bird was slain the mist, fog and snow comes back which ultimately means that the bird was a good omen.  The sailors are upset with his action and they knew that they were guilty by association, “But when the fog cleared off, they justify the same, and thus make themselves accomplices in the crime.”  100 This is important because when the spirits come the sailors are affected by what the Mariner did. The spirits are the Grim Reapers this is because the poem goes on the sailors are forced to play their game. The Spirits according to the poem seems to play a game and all the sailors are dropping like flies but the Mariner lives, “The naked hulk alongside came,  195  And the twain were casting dice;  "The game is done! I've won! I've won!"  Quoth she, and whistles thrice.” now the Mariner thinks he has gotten away but in fact he has more obstacles ahead. He is alone and from the encounter with the spirits he does realize that he has sinned and does repent. As the Mariner repents the curse is lessened each time. The hermit ends up being God in a physical form. The Mariner was going to drown but was saved by the Hermit and the Pilot. Also the Pilot said “the devil can row” which referred to the  Mariner. Not saying he is exactly the Devil but that he is a sinner. Now this can lead us to the ultimate conclusion about this poem. Coleridge through this poem is trying to tell the reader that life will have many trial and tribulations. But when we are offer help we should take it with gratitude. Humans need to humble themselves and be more like God because we are created in his image. I believe in order for the Mariner to be saved he would have had to repent. Which he did for kill the Albatross if that did not happen the Hermit would not have saved him. The spirits were on the ship to relieve to him his sin by taking away his shipmates. Now the shipmates from what I believe were not punished but rather died and was bought to God because they believed in the good omen of the bird and therefore I think they were saved even before the spirits came. Coleridge use of imagination helps create a story in this case the story of the Mariner, that the imagination is wild and that deep within it there is an underlying message. That is the very reason as to why imagination cannot be suppressed because it helps us discover ourselves and our unconscious. This poem in the end still leaves me very confused. I believe I am missing some points of the poem.